Black beer with some foamy, lighter than expected head and decent legs. I like the smell of this one quite a bit as it has good roast and vinous notes to go with it. It has nice -bal notes in general with oak and vanilla. The taste is a really great blend of smoke, char, sweetness and some dark fruits as well as bourbon and chocolate. It has a very smooth and full body beer. Overall I find this to be an great example of the style and also unique.

Taste is phenomenal, thin in feel and heavy in flavor. The oakyness is present without a doubt, but slightly subdued by the richness in sugar and patent-like malts. The chocolate tastes more milky than dark, but the wood bbls tone this delicacy so that one flavor is never too dominant over another. Noticeables: smoke, vanilla, oak finish, thin feel, thick taste, chocolate, purified sugars, milk, coconut, faint caramel.

Best imperial stout from MSB, better than Abyss IMO, better than Berserker.

Huge thanks to Hophead84 for breaking this out at a sour festival. Kudos, little buddy.

Pours a heavy, oil puddle black with a small bit of light tan head. The head quickly vanishes leaving some bubbles. Some carbonation, but no real head.

Smell is excellent. Some wood/oak, but heavy on the milk chocolate, roasted malt, a bit, just a bit of raisins, and a really nice vanilla aroma that I almost never comes across. Whiff of unidentifiable booze.

Incredibly balanced flavor. The malt has just a touch of roast/smoke, so much so that calling this a "smoked" beer on the label is just false advertising. Black tar molasses mixed with milk chocolate mixed with a ton, A TON of vanilla, and the raisins/dates round out a slightly boozy aftertaste. It's a predominantly sweet beer, but the balancing agents of the touch of acrid roast, along with the dark fruits really make this heavenly.

Mouthfeel is thick, smooth, viscous, could use a tad more carbonation.

Pours dark black with a two finger mocha head, with good retention and lacing. The aroma is amazing. Chocolate, cocoa, black licorice, smoked malt, and molasses. If this tastes as good as it smells, this should be phenomenal.

The taste is sublime. Chocolate, cocoa, black licorice, smoked malt, molasses, vanilla, and oak combine beautifully to make one of the best Imperial Stouts I have had. There is also a light amount of roasted malt for some balance. Given the flavors, one might expect this beer to be cloyingly sweet, but it is not. This is just a very well made beer.

Full bodied, rich, and creamy with moderate carbonation. Very smooth, and a pleasure to drink. the alcohol is well disguised. I can't believe this beer has 12.60 % abv from the taste. It is a shame this beer was only brewed once. In my opinion, this beer should be an annual release.

The pour is very thick - other than Black Tuesday, this is the thickest, most viscous stout I've ever seen. The body is an inky black. A one-finger, very dark brown head with wonderful retention leaves great lacing around the glass. As I drank more and more of this, that head left a very clear ring of lace.

Huge barrel presence in the nose, and a very unique one at that. There's absolutely an element evocative of cognac and port, with a fairly strong aroma of liquor. There is a clear, wine-like note at play. That said, there is no real alcoholic ester smell here. Vanilla, toffee, chocolate, figs and fudge come through beautifully. A curious tobacco element as well, with just a hint of roast.

The taste is sort of a revelation. Sweet with just a hint of bitterness in the finish, the balance is perfect. There's a dark, fruity aspect in this beer that works perfectly alongside the oak and vanilla from the barrel. Licorice and chocolate are in the mix. I'm not sure I'd guess this was a smoked beer, as that particular flavor really only comes through in the finish. The alcohol is incredibly subdued.

The mouthfeel is syrupy and borderline perfect, with an ideal level of viscosity and low carbonation. Thick and chewy, this never stops being a joy to drink.

An absolutely fabulous stout, one I could quite honestly drink all night long. I really had to pace myself while enjoying this bottle, and I really didn't want it to end. There are so many fantastic -bal aged stouts on the market today, but the singular effects of the pinot noir barrels on this beer really set it apart. I can only hope that Midnight Sun makes more of this and that I can drink it again soon enough.